honeycollectswhump

[honeycollectswhump]

WHO IS THE BIG BLOND WHUMPEE SHAPED FIRE EMBLEM GUY??? tell me more about him!! my sign to play fire emblem just for him???

YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAA SO his name is dimitri alexandre blaiddyd and he's from the game fire emblem three houses and its spin off three hopes

you should totally play it in fact i had just made an elevator pitch to a friend over on discord as to why it's a hella good game i shall share it with you as well:

well i think for starters i HAVE to praise the voice acting and dialogue writing in the game, it starts solid and stays like that for the entire run you go for, it's really inspiring in that way for me particularly, but also the lessons from it are quite precious and i think ring true to many irl topics such as dealing with grief, loss, isolation and a turbulent, often hopeless environment fair thing i gotta say is fire emblem three houses was the first from the franchise i ever played and i don't know much of anything about the other games, my brother in law called the combat a mix of chess and pokemon which is hilarious but true, i felt intimidated at first because i suck at strategy games and it took a while for all the combat mechanics to sink in for me but once i got a grasp it was pretty entertaining! three houses in particular you can choose one from three routes, so far i've only played the blue lions one but i've heard marvelous things about golden deer and black eagles routes, in general they all deal with medieval time systems and they talk a lot about the oppression they perpetuate and how the church causes tension between people but it's also a support system for others, and each route has the leader want to try and reform the land in their own way

AND to add a cherry on top i think dimitri from the blue lions is up your alley as well, he gets plenty whumped and has a metric ton of angst to deal with throughout the game

also you player character acts as their teacher and it's just augh so sweet to see them as your students grow and become stronger and thank you for it

---

anyway it's got the roy 100% seal of approval and if dimitri looks whumpee shaped it's because he ABSOLUTELY is one

in my rant above i mostly talk about the game in general as i don't know how you feel about spoilers and i really can't rave about him without revealing some i fear :'x but if you want my all spoilers inclusive essay on dimitri i've also got it locked and loaded 🤘

BUT to entice you further, i shall share some screenshots i took of my run under the read more {: !

[honeycollectswhump]

I assure you: somebody, somewhere, is on the exact same wavelength as you are.

[honeycollectswhump]

Coward

No Way Out

Bloody Mess

The Talk

One Last Job

Justice

[honeycollectswhump]

The Talk

masterlist

content: lady whump, lady whumpee, reluctant whumper, torture, broken bones

Deena was stumbling home, eyes wide and full of tears. She stopped to lean against the brick walls of houses sometimes, catching her breath.

“Are you ready to tell me where your base is yet?” her boss had asked Tia after punching her square in the jaw. “Or do we have to keep doing this ‘till the evening?”

Tia spat out blood and a loose tooth. “Well, get comfortable, if you plan to stay that long.”

Why? Why? Tia had done nothing wrong. If she’d crossed her boss at any point, it was probably for good reason. Tia wasn’t the one in the wrong.

“Tase her again,” her boss had instructed one of the lackeys. “In her side.”

Tia was helpless to resist, with her hands bound behind her back. She screamed as the taser was jammed between her ribs.

The whole world was spinning. She was seeing double of everything. She just wanted to get home. She wanted to crawl into bed after a long, long shower of scrubbing the blood off of her hands and arms.

“Get the baseball bat for me,” her boss had asked her.

“Sir? She’s already barely conscious—”

“I said get the fucking baseball bat. Do I have to tell you twice?”

Deena hesitantly stepped over to where the baseball bat was and handed it to him. He swung and hit Tia in the shin, and there was a sickening crunch.

She reached the front door and got out her keys. She tried not to think of the fact that this little demonstration was all to show her what would happen to her if she stepped out of line.

As she got inside, Tory immediately waddled up to her.

“Mama, mama!”

“Hey, starflower,” she said weakly. She had scrubbed off most of the blood on her boss’ property, but there were still darker spots on her skin as she reached her arms out to hug him.

“Uppies!”

“N-Not now, sweetie. Mama’s really tired right now.” Please don’t make me touch you any more with my blood-soaked hands.

“Dee?” Eddie walked up to her as well, planting a kiss on her cheek. “Is everything alright? You look pale.”

“Not now,” she mouthed.

“Mama?”

“Yes, baby?”

“What’s that on your face? Did you eat ketchup?”

Deena’s soul left her body at the question. She reached up to touch her face, the opposite side to where Eddie had kissed her, and sure enough… she felt dry blood.

“Yes, sweetheart,” she said faintly. “Mama ate lots of ketchup at her boss’ home. Let me wash that off.”

She stepped around Tory to go to the bathroom, ignoring Eddie’s frantic questions. She threw her clothes off and got in the shower, scrubbing her skin with the rough side of her sponge until it was raw. Tory wouldn’t see another drop of blood on her.

When she got out of the bathroom, she was immediately met with a worried Eddie. “Dee, what’s going on?” he whispered. “Was that blood? Are you okay?”

“We need to talk. Not now. But… But maybe in the evening. We need to talk. Please.”

“Okay. Of course. In the evening, then. I’ll go check on Tory, I gave him a sandwich with ketchup because he was begging me for one. You go and try to sleep some, okay?”

Deena nodded. “Okay. Thanks. I’ll just take a quick nap. I won’t be long.”

Eddie leaned in and gave her a peck on the lips. “Take as long as you need. I love you. Whatever is going on, we’ll figure it out.”

Deena walked into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, still shaking a little from everything that had happened. Whenever she closed her eyes, she could see the unnatural way Tia’s leg was bent after her boss had taken a baseball bat to it. She could see the blood splatter everywhere. She could hear the screams.

Eventually, when she did manage to fall asleep, it was a restless sleep full of nightmares. She dreamt of her boss taking Eddie and tying him to the same chair in the basement. She dreamt of him kidnapping Tory. She awoke with a small cry not even twenty minutes later.

Eddie immediately rushed into the room. “Dee, what’s wrong?” Tory followed in tow, peeking out from behind his father’s leg.

“Mama?”

“I’m okay,” she assured them, running a hand through her locks. “I’m okay. I’m so sorry. I just had a nightmare. Hey, Tory, what do you say we watch a movie? With popcorn.”

“Popcorn!” he yelled with a big smile. “I’ll choose a movie! Yay, movie and popcorn!”

“Are you sure you wanna be watching movies with us right now?” Eddie asked, still concerned.

“I need a distraction,” she said as she got out of bed. “Clearly, sleeping isn’t working.”

“Are you sure we can’t talk about it now? Tory is fine on his own for a few minutes.”

“This… This is not a few minutes conversation.” She walked past him into the living room, where Tory was already flipping through the movie selection on the TV. “What are we watching, starflower?”

“The Last Unicorn!”

“Sounds great. I’ll bring the popcorn in a few moments.”

-

Once Tory was tucked into bed and the house fell silent, Deena sat Eddie down on the bed to have the dreaded conversation.

“What’s going on, Dee?” he asked, clearly nervous. He had every reason to be.

“It’s about my job,” she said quietly. “I… I wasn’t entirely honest about it. But it’s time I tell you everything.”

Eddie didn’t interrupt. He sat there, listening intently.

“My boss…” How was she meant to break this news? “I…”

“Did he hurt you?”

“N-No… No… Eddie, he… He has a woman in his basement,” she whispered, paranoid that a camera or a bug was somehow picking up what she was saying. “He’s torturing her.”

“What?”

“Please, keep it down. Please. I’ll tell you everything, just, just keep it down.”

“Torture?”

“Yes! Yes. He’s hurting her. She’s been down there for weeks. I’m… I’m tasked with cleaning up after he hurts her. I clean up blood and stuff. I… I don’t know how to help her. And I don’t know how to get away. I don’t know if I can help and get away. And I don’t know if by telling you I just doomed my entire family. My boss, he found out about Tory. He’s threatening me. Today— Today he brought me downstairs, into the basement, and he hurt Tia right in front of me. He hurt her so terribly. He made me participate.”

“Oh my goodness, Dee…”

“I don’t know what to do,” she said, crying by now. “I don’t know what to do. Please, help. Please. I’m so scared.”

Eddie brought her into a hug, letting her cry on his shoulder. And cry she did, for at least ten minutes before she started calming down a little.

“Listen to me,” Eddie said after gently pushing her away so he could look into her eyes. “We’re gonna call emergency services. Right now.”

“We can’t! We can’t. Eddie, he’ll just make one of his underlings take the fall and come after us! We can’t call emergency services. We, we have to contact Tia somehow. She keeps saying she works with a team, a team that can burn down the entire house. We need to find them. But she… She can’t tell me where they are, because my boss is trying to find their base, too.”

“How do we do that if she can’t tell you?”

“I don’t know,” she said, deflated. “I don’t know. I can’t even figure out a way to talk to her. I’m useless.”

“I’ll think about it, okay? In the meantime, you can’t go back to working for him.”

“I have to. He made a big show of putting me in my place by torturing Tia in front of me. I can’t run now. He expects me to fall back in line after… After I’ve told him to leave my family alone. I’m probably stupid for even speaking about this. I just couldn’t… I couldn’t keep it in anymore. I’m so sorry, Eddie. I’m so sorry. No one would hire me. This was my only option. Before I knew it, I was all caught up in it.”

“Nobody is mad at you, Dee. I’m just worried sick. Who knows what he’ll do to you? I can’t let you go back.”

“I can handle myself. I can. Don’t think about that part. Think about how I can contact Tia in a mansion that’s probably full of cameras and microphones.”

“I have to think about that part. Dee, you’re in danger.”

Deena leaned in and kissed him. “He won’t hurt me. I promise.”

[honeycollectswhump]

No Way Out

i couldn't leave this alone

masterlist

content: lady whump, lady whumpee, implied torture, aftermath of whump, stalking

Deena picked up her bucket and mop and took a deep breath, steadying herself. There was only one floor left to clean: the basement. She knew what she would find there, and her stomach protested at the thought, but where else would she get her paycheck? She steeled her nerves and headed downstairs.

Her husband, Edgar, and son, Tory, were counting on her. Edgar hadn’t been able to hold down a job ever since his accident, and Tory was only just a toddler. They deserved the life Deena’s job was affording them. The hush money wasn’t all that much, but it brought in food and drinks, even if Deena couldn’t always stomach those if she thought about where they were coming from.

She descended the creaky wooden stairs slowly and carefully. If she fell and broke her back, that’d put her out of commission, too. As she got to the bottom, she set down her bucket and put her mop in the water, wringing it out a few times before she opened the dreaded door.

There she was. Caked in blood, one eye swollen shut, clothes ragged and dirty. The boss’ dirty little secret, the entire reason Deena couldn’t leave this job unharmed: Tia Ryan.

Deena looked down at the floor, assessing just how many times she would need to bring fresh, clean water until all the blood was gone from the floor. It’d take at least three trips back upstairs. Not that bad, considering some other times she’d come.

“Hey,” Tia said.

Deena didn’t respond. She put her mop to the floor and started scrubbing.

“I said hey,” she said before groaning in pain. Her breaths were shallow and wheezy. “Ignoring me today, too? Mean, considering it’s my birthday. Even Captain Dickhead himself remembered. He brought me a cupcake. Didn’t let me eat it, but I still appreciated it.”

Well, that was the boss’ business. He could do whatever he wanted, while Deena was meant to keep her head down and mop.

“You know, you never told me about yourself. Bad guys are meant to monologue, no? He does it. Every time. He’s given me his life story, like, twenty times by now. All the reasons he’s an evil motherfucker now. All his childhood traumas. All the plans he must carry out, that I’m hindering. You never told me anything.”

Deena put the mop back in the bucket to rinse it, turning the water pink. She wrung it out and started on another pretty bad patch. She had no idea where the blood had come from; it looked like someone had been stabbed at that spot… Tia didn’t look like she’d been stabbed. But then again, Deena didn’t look at her longer than a split second.

“What’s your life story, huh? I don’t even know your name. And you don’t even look like a proper lackey. Come on, I want to know. How many people ask you for your life story, anyway? This is a prime opportunity for you to finally vent a bit. I can tell you don’t even want to be here.”

Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Deena rinsed the mop again. One patch at a time. She tried thinking of Tory’s adorable baby face as she worked.

“You know, he’ll kill me one of these days. And then you’ll have nobody to talk to.”

Deena grabbed her bucket and headed back upstairs. She poured the bloody water down the drain before refilling the bucket, then went back down to the basement. Tia was still there, tied to the metal chair bolted to the floor.

“Why do you keep doing this?” Tia asked, and Deena could see her cock her head out of the corner of her eye. “Is he threatening you? Or is the pay that good? I imagine someone like him would pay well. Considering what you see here every day.”

As if. Deena couldn’t stop an indignant huff from escaping her throat. That was all Tia needed.

“He’s not even paying well? Girl, get another job. You’re down here breaking your back every day for a scumbag that tortures women, and you’re not even being paid well? What if you’re the next one in the chair?”

Deena had thought about it. About what might await her in the future, in case the boss wanted to silence her. It was a constant fear in the back of her mind.

Deena Shaffer, 29, mother of one, missing. She left behind a husband and son.

She didn’t want to think about it.

“In any case, I’m glad you’re the one doing this job. You’re at least thorough. I have no doubt that his idiotic minions would let mould or something grow in the walls. I’d kick the bucket way sooner.”

She didn’t want to think about that, either. She didn’t want to think about Tia dying. Not only because that would leave the boss with no victim, and he might turn his eyes to Deena, but because… she’d grown used to her. A little… attached, even. Which was messed up, considering she did nothing to help her.

“You know, I consider you an ally,” Tia went on, and Deena’s grip tightened on the handle of the mop. If the boss were to hear that… “When my team comes and they burn down the building, I’ll be sure to tell them about the janitor lady. Maybe we could give you a cleaning job at base, too.”

A… A normal job? A real job? No shady stuff? No cleaning up blood anymore? A real job, one she wouldn’t be forced to continue, one she could quit at any time if something unsavoury came up?

No. No one would hire her for a normal job. She’d learned that when she’d sent out those hundreds of applications. The boss was the only one who took pity on her, who employed her. She was loyal.

“I can tell you want to leave,” Tia said gently. “I get it. I mean, look at me. I promise you, we will leave. The both of us.”

Deena would’ve given anything to be able to look up, to look at Tia, and see the genuine goodwill on her face — if there was any. But she didn’t know where cameras were in this hellhole. She couldn’t risk it. So she kept her head down and kept mopping.

Once done, she grabbed her bucket and went upstairs.

“Deena,” the boss called from the other room before Deena could’ve emptied her bucket. “All done?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good girl.” Ugh, that always sent a shiver down her spine. She was a grown woman. “I’ll be sure to leave a little something extra in your envelope, I know Tory’s birthday is coming up.”

That sounded wrong. Why did it sound so wrong?

Oh no.

“I never told you my son’s name,” she breathed. The boss grinned at her.

“You didn’t have to,” he said in a sickly sweet voice before sauntering over and patting her on the cheek. “Go on, empty the bucket and go home to sweet baby Tory. I’m sure he’s wondering where you are by now.”

Deena left the property that day feeling sick to her stomach. Even more so than usual.

There was no way for her to quit.

[honeycollectswhump]

I haven’t platonicposted in a while

[honeycollectswhump]

im so so so excited to see him slowly morph into trusting her. like maybe he starts to let his guard down slightly unconsciously and isn’t punished or betrayed for it. so he doesn’t notice for a while until he reflects back and realises!! maybe he eventually even seeks her out…

alexeis mindset is so interesting to me, i can’t wait to see it explored in his pov. he’s so used to being on his own with no one to genuinely have his back, i can’t wait for his reaction when he starts to get close with the rogues (and ofc sarah <3). how would he handle caring for someone else. how would he handle the knowledge that someone genuinely cares for him, not for Cinder the assassin

I LOVE LEX AND THE NEW UPDATE SO MUCH!!!! does he realise how sarah can calm him down? does he realise how gentle she is and what does that make him feel

AAAHHH THANKS

At this point, he's still hesitant to trust anyone. One of Sarah's biggest "pulls" to him this early on is that she appears harmless. From the very beginning, he's seen her as someone who can't physically hurt him. It started as a strategic assessment when he was first storming the rogues' house, and is slowly shaping from can't to won't.

She still has to appeal to his logic at this point ("blindly searching for a tracking chip isn't effective", "if they're tracking you they can track us so we have every reason to get rid of something like that"), but he's gradually coming to accept that she's a decent person who genuinely wants to help him. It's not something he's encountered in this capacity before, so it's taking some getting used to

[honeycollectswhump]

Patchwork

cw: paranoia fueled self-harm, alcohol, blood, briefly referenced suicide attempt

previous // Wildefire Masterlist //

°•°•°

This felt like such a mess. After all their time in hiding, running from Fox and Corp, trying to just get a moment to breathe, it was finally time to act, and Sarah was at a complete loss.

Maybe sending Cinder after Uriah is the way, she thought, sullenly pulling at the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Maybe that's the best we've got.

No, no, they could do better. They just had to think. Maybe exert a little patience. It had only been a week since her meeting with Big Brother, and even though she hadn't heard anything back, that didn't mean the guy's mind was made up. Maybe he'd have a change of heart, a boost in courage. Maybe he'd still help. But if he didn't, it was in their hands.

Her hands, really. The others had skills, but they were still kids. She couldn't put the fate of the world on their shoulders, not when it was her idea to go big. And Cinder… well, he was still dealing with his own demons. It was nice to know he was around, another defender in the event of an attack, but other than that, he’d spent most of his time in his room. On the rare occasion she saw him up and around, the smell of liquor was heavy on him, footfall uneven, eyes unfocused. His own demons.

She was glad he was passing out drunk here instead of in some alleyway, but his joining their little group wasn't the ray of hope she'd thought it would be. Wasn't like it was easy to address either. He didn't trust them, and, well, she'd be lying if she said she trusted him completely. Sure, he hated Uriah and wouldn't sell them out, but would he stay? Would he fight for them if it came to that?

Doesn't matter, she tried to tell herself. We've made it this far without his help, doesn't matter. Let the poor guy rest.

Well. “Rest”. Fuck, why did things have to keep getting more complicated? Cinder had gone through hell, so she couldn't blame him for wanting to be drunk out of his mind all the time, but it wasn't healthy. Sarah wasn't a therapist though, or anyone with any credibility or say in his life, so what could she do? Ask nicely? It sounded so dumb.

Trying to turn her thoughts to her other impossible dilemma, she fell into a chair, leaning back with her eyes closed.

She'd worry about Cinder later. First she needed to figure out what the fuck they were even doing. If Big Brother didn't help, could they find other allies? It had taken long enough to get one. And if they were fully on their own, then what? Hugo’s powers could get into any system, but that could trigger a trap, and even if it didn't, it'd be like looking for one particular fish in an entire ocean. Impossible.

Nope, stop. Not impossible, just really hard. So what if every other interface could shine a spotlight on their location? So what if nearly every lead would be a dead end? They had to try, right? Or…

Or maybe they should leave. Maybe they should get out of the city, out of the country. Go off-grid, or find a town where they wouldn't matter. The topic had come up a few times in the past several months, to lukewarm reception. Hugo liked that it was an option, but didn't seem convinced it was right. Akeela wanted to fight. Rosie didn't care. And Sarah… even if tackling Corp was impossible, futile, a waste of energy, her moms lived in this city. Could she really just give up and never see them again? Dystopian hellscape or not, this was where they'd all grown up. It was home, and the people in charge wouldn't fucking take that away.

Her ears perked up at the sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs. She'd dulled her hearing to get in a few minutes of focus, but now she tuned back in, picking up a quick heartbeat, breaths through gritted teeth. Akeela?

Sarah was on her feet before the girl threw the door open.

“Sarah!” Her eyes were wide, and she was already turning on her heels, ready to take off again. “Hurry! Cinder’s losing his shit.”

What? She took off after her without question. Akeela only freaked out if she meant it.

“Where is he?” she panted as they dashed up the stairs.

“His room. Saw him in the hall, and then he ran in there— I don't know what he's doing.”

Sarah could hear him. Heavy breathing, pained noises, tearing skin. She grabbed for the doorknob, but it was locked. 

“Cinder!” She pounded on the door, heard an answering gasp and clattering. Crackling. Fuck.

“Cinder,” she did her best to sound non-threatening, which was hard when she was trying to yell through the door. “It's Sarah. Are you okay?”

No answer. His breathing got further away, like he was trying to create distance, and then the tearing started again.

“Do you know what set him off?” She knelt by the door, cursing. Breaking in there was probably not the safest move, but what else was she supposed to do? Akeela was quiet as she pulled out a bobby pin.

“I…”

She knew something. “It's okay,” Sarah said as she tried to calm down enough to work the lock. “Whatever it is, it's okay, I just need an idea of what's going through his head. You said you saw him in the hall?”

Click. Sarah didn't turn it, not yet.

“We were talking,” her words were hurried. “Just a little, like we've done before, and I don't remember what he said, but I said, I asked, how do you know they aren't tracking you? and it wasn't really supposed to be serious, but he—”

“It's okay,” Sarah repeated. Tracking… fuck, what was he doing in there? “Go get Hugo. Don't… don't be super loud coming in, okay?”

Akeela took off without a word. Sarah took a deep breath and pushed the door open, senses wired as she took a slow step inside.

“Cinder? It's still Sarah. I'm coming to check on you.”

“I can't find it.” His voice was a shuddering whisper, a wince.

“Huh?” The bathroom light was on. The first thing she saw when she eased towards the doorframe was blood splattered on the floor. “Cinder—”

“I can't fucking find it.”

Red streaked up his metal arms, gouges in his chest, thigh, a portion of his back. A shard of twisted metal was clutched in his fist, misshapen like it had been torn from something. Bloodied at the end.

“Hey, hey, it's okay. What is it? What are you trying to find?” She had an inkling, but it seemed like a good idea to keep him talking.

“They're tracking me, they— they have to be.”

She winced at the sound of metal on metal as he tightened his hand around the twisted shard. “They haven't come after you yet,” she reasoned. “You've been safe—”

“They need to catch me off guard. They want me alive.” His arm came up suddenly, metal piercing the side of his neck, dragging, and the tearing of flesh was so loud she almost retched, stumbling forward to catch his wrist.

“Cinder, stop. You're only hurting yourself—”

“They're tracking me.” He jerked away, red pooling from the new cut, and Sarah took a hasty step back.

“Okay. Okay, so let us help. Okay? This isn't going to do anything. You— you're searching for a needle in a haystack.”

Cinder didn't look at her, but the horrible tearing stopped, metal hovering at the dip in his shoulder.

“Hugo can sense that sort of thing,” she continued, trying to keep her voice level, sincere. “Just wait, okay? He'll check you out. If there's anything there, we'll take care of it.”

She winced as his fingers tightened around the shard, hard enough to make it creak.

“Can you sit down for a sec? Let me look at those cuts.”

Cinder blinked, eyes shifting like he was studying something she couldn't see, muttering under his breath in a frantic whisper. After a moment, he stumbled back, falling onto the edge of the bathtub. He didn't drop the shard, looking up at her with red-rimmed eyes.

“How do I know you'll tell me?”

“Huh?”

“F– if you find it. How do I know you'll tell me the truth?” His tone was at once accusing and afraid.

“Well, if they're tracking you, they're tracking us too, right?” Sarah reasoned. Simple promises didn't seem to be what he wanted right now. “Getting rid of a tracking device would keep us safe.”

Cinder seemed to consider this for a moment, and Sarah crouched by the cupboard, fishing out one of the dollar-store washcloths she'd stocked, running it under hot water.

“You won't just kick me out?” Cinder said at last.

“You're an ally,” she replied. “Those are hard to come by for us. Besides, I think Akeela’s getting attached. Can I take a look at your cuts?”

Cinder tensed, looking up at her with a tightness to his mouth. 

“Okay,” Sarah said, trying not to sigh too heavily. “Here. Let me know if you need help.” She passed him the rag, and he took it with his free hand, pressing it to the gash in his neck.

Sarah turned at a quiet knock behind her, finding Hugo hovering in the doorway, Akeela shifting from foot to foot behind him. She waved him over.

“Okay, Hugo's here. He'll look for any electronics on you. Sound good?”

Cinder gave a nod, his eyes distant. Sarah explained the situation in a quick whisper to Hugo, who nodded along, though his eyes kept flickering to the bloodied mess Cinder had made of the bathroom, color draining a little more from his face with every glance.

“I'll make sure it's cleaned up after,” she said. “All I need you to do is the sweep.”

“Yeah yeah. I mean, blood doesn't bother me, I just—”

“Suuure.” Sarah almost rolled her eyes in spite of the situation. “Go for it.”

Despite his claims, Hugo was slow to approach the assassin, thumbs rubbing up and down his clenched knuckles like he was nervous. Sarah held back a few feet, watching.

“Okay, hi.”

“Hugo who did the arms,” Cinder said dully, not looking up.

“Yup, that's me. Now I'm gonna do the rest of you. Just… give me your hand real quick. It's easier if I can feel some sort of continuity.”

Sarah watched as Cinder hesitantly held out his metal hand, Hugo's own hands moving in to sandwich it. His eyes closed, brows pinching in concentration, Cinder's gaze suddenly intent and locked on him, waiting.

“There's nothing,” Hugo said after a moment, and Sarah was grateful for the confidence in his tone.

“Nothing,” Cinder repeated.

“Nothing at all. Your arms are functioning well, but aside from them, there are no other electronics in your body.”

Cinder nodded, pulling his hand back to join its counterpart in clutching the metal shard.

“And if— if you want me to again, if you feel weird or something, just ask. I'll check you out, okay?” Hugo said as he stepped back. “No more…” he pantomimed stabbing himself. “Yeah. My way’s just easier. Cool?”

Cinder's voice found him before Hugo could fully leave, a hoarse, barely-audible thank you.

“Okay,” Sarah said, starting to follow Hugo out. “I'll let you get cleaned up. If you need anything—”

“Spyglass?”

“Yeah?”

He hesitated, rolling the metal between his hands, eyes going to the bloodstained washcloth beside him. “Can't reach the one on my back. Not well.”

“Do you want a hand?”

“Yeah.”

Sarah stepped back into the bathroom, taking the rag from him and rinsing it out until the water she squeezed out ran clear. Cinder shifted as she approached, baring his gouged skin, blood still flowing freely. She folded the cloth into a square and laid it against the wound, applying pressure as she took a seat beside him. 

“I know it was stupid,” he said, and she could smell liquor on his breath even without enhancing her scent. Sitting this close to him, he looked like he hadn't slept in days, dark smudges under his eyes, complexion looking too gray to be healthy.

“It… I get it. I get why, I mean,” Sarah said. What he'd said when he first came to them a week ago wasn't wrong. Uriah wanted all of them dead or alive, but his fixation on Cinder went beyond that. They want me alive, he'd said. He’d tried to drown himself when they tried to take him back before. She didn't know what Uriah had threatened him with, but she didn't have to. For Cinder, going back would be a fate worse than death. She understood the fear.

“Still stupid. It… there was no logic. I can think about it now, and it wouldn't even make sense, but… fuck, I just wanted to be sure.”

“It's okay.” Her wrist was starting to ache from holding pressure on the wound, so she dulled her sense of touch. “We want you to feel safe here. If double checking makes you feel safe, that's fine. Just… get one of us first next time. Hugo’ll make sure you're good.”

“Yeah.” His chin dipped, dark violet eyes fixated on the blood-spattered tile. She'd never noticed his freckles before, light brown dusting across the bridge of his nose. Had they been too faded the last time she'd been this close? Or had she just never looked?

“How've you been holding up?” she asked, suddenly overly aware of the silence. “I haven't seen much of you this week. Settling in okay?”

He shrugged. “Waiting.”

“For Fox?”

“For anything.” His eyes met hers for the first time since she'd sat down, peeking from the corner of his vision. “Don't know what you've been planning, but I can work. I'll complete any task you give me.”

“Yeah?” Sarah smiled wryly. “Even ‘get some rest’?”

“Can't.”

She felt her smile falter. “Yeah.” His whole reason for finding them again. I can't sleep. “We're watching your back, y'know? We're stronger than we look.”

“Isn't always enough.”

“Okay, well I can hear really fucking good. If we're ever under attack, I'll sound the alarm for you.”

Did he almost smile, or was that just wishful thinking on her part?

“Yeah.”

She checked the wound on his back. The blood wasn't pouring out anymore, torn flesh uneven and painful looking, but not deep enough to need stitches as far as she could tell. Not that she was an expert.

“I'm gonna get some bandages for this,” she said, tossing the rag into the sink, pausing before she could reach the door. “Cinder… would you want tasks?” She hadn't considered it before. Giving him missions seemed counterintuitive to making him feel safe and welcome. But without something to do, he'd just stick himself up here with booze and memories, and that seemed even worse. 

“If I'm staying here, I want to be useful,” he replied, but it wasn't lost on her how his eyes seemed to sharpen, posture shifting so he was leaning forward, as if ready to leap to his feet.

Maybe giving him something to do would help. Maybe without a direction he'd just let himself waste away until he got a shot at Uriah. Well, that made sense, didn't it? Even before Uriah, he'd been a mercenary, working contract to contract. It was what he was used to.

“I'll find something,” she promised, motioning for him to turn so she could apply the bandage. Something low-risk, at least to start. Maybe he could find them more allies. A Neath medic they could call on would ease a lot of her anxiety. Or people who watched what was going on in Corp and could report back to them. People who could help them stand against the powers that be.

She listened to Cinder exhale, a drawn-out sound that didn't betray too much pain.

“Thank you.”

Sarah got the feeling he was talking about more than just the bandage. “We're glad you're here,” she said. “Really, we are.” Maybe just to see if she could pull a smile out of him, she added, “Fuck Uriah.”

It almost worked. Almost. 

“Fuck Uriah.”

•°•°•

@whumpacabra  @enteredin2eternity  @kixngiggles  @whumpsday  @kiichu  @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump  @shywhumpauthor  @distinctlywhumpthing , @bloodinkandashes , @fleur-alise , @whumpy-daydreams , @whumpwillow , @honeycollectswhump ,  @snakebites-and-ink

[honeycollectswhump]

big fan of the anon feature. y'all do NOT get to know who my ass is lollllll suck it

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Redraw of old Dimi art<<33

[honeycollectswhump]

the tragedy of tumblr is you will inevitably meet people who you should be having a sleepover with. you should be rolling around on their floor and rummaging through their fridge and watching shitty movies with. you should be shopping with should be going out to a cafe with should be wandering through the aquarium with. people who you should be experiencing quotidian joys with... and you cannot! because they live one million miles away

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more mitri doodles

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bleeding and smoking are two of like the hottest things ever and it’s really unfair that you shouldn’t be doing either on the reg

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iiiiiiit's sad butch hours

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reblog to remind prev they're not a bother and their presence is wanted <3

[honeycollectswhump]

My #1 recurring thing as an editor is to guide people away from writing shyly and defensively. If you preempt aggression and try defuse it in your writing itself, you are showing your belly. The audience wants blood.